Growing Up
by Itako Anna-san
Summary: Tao Jun begins to think about her past. How she wanted to grow up, how does she feel now about it?


_**Growing Up**_

_By: Alicia_

_Written: 4/17/06_

**Disclaimer: **_I do not own Tao Jun nor Shaman King._

**Summary: **_Tao Jun looks back at her childhood._

Tao Jun glanced at her reflection. Her lips dropped into a frown. Slowly she ran a comb through her green, shimmering hair. As she placed the comb down gently, she reached for her hair-tie. Slowly her soft, female hands pulled her hair up. Clamping the hair-tie down and finishing pulling her hair up, the doshi sighed. Her eyes scanned right back at her reflection, how much she had grown over the seventeen years.

"What ever happened to the good old days...?" she murmered. Placing her hand on her chin, and her elbow on her brown dresser. A sigh escaped her lips.

_Getting high meant swinging at the playground,_

There stood Tao Jun at the age of four. She stood at a run down swing-set as she smiled. Slowly walking over to a swing she sat down upon its fragil figure. Swinging back and forth, she began. She wasn't swinging high, because she was enjoying the small breeze it created. Letting her hair fly back and forth made her smile. Slowly she went higher and higher, until she almost flipped over the bar of the swing-set. Her smile faded as she stopped, got off, and walked away. Leaving the swing to creek as it slowed down until a stop.

_The worst thing you could get from the boys was cooties,_

Tao Jun was now five years old. She was now attending a school. It was mainly of boys. She was real skittish around them. There was something about them that scared her. That, of course, was cooties. She had gotten so many cootie shots, like beyond twenty or so. Every time one touched, brushed, or sneezed near her, she dashed off to get one. This continued, and continued. It was a natural habbit for out little Tao Jun.

_Mom was your hero,_

She watched her mother try on a beautiful kimono. Jun's little six-year-old sigh was heard in her mother's chamber. She smiled as she watched her mother walk gracefully along the wooden floor. The red kimono with golden dragons on it shimmered in the sun's sparkleing rays. Jun smiled at the sight. Her mother, had always been there for Jun. She had always took care of her. Her mother was strong, calm, and most of all..loveable. She would often win against arguements with her father, with never breaking a sweat. The same went for stopping fist fights. She smiled, and never lost her cool. She was a true hero in the eyes of Jun.

_And daddy was the boy you were going to marry,_

Jun always looked up to her father. She smiled, laughed, and loved him. That's were it all began...love. She loved her father. Often she would hear things about marriage. About two people in love that would end up together forever and ever. Jun often pictured that, her and her father. When he wasn't being mean or using Oversoul to hide himself. Her and her true father. The seven year old girl would often dream endless nights upon that very day.

_Your ' worst enemy ' was your little brother,_

Jun and Ren never really got a long when they were kids. Maybe it was because Jun used to wish for a younger sister instead? Or could it be because she used to dress him up in girl clothing? Maybe it was because they were just too different. Over the stupidest things they would fight over. Like who is a better fighter, who gets the first cookie, who looked cuter in a dress, and who was always taller--which Jun won, of course. They'd fight and fight, never letting the other one get one thing ahead of the other. That was a natural routine for Jun, at the age of eight.

_Race issues meant who ran the fastest,_

She had crossed the finish line yet again. She, yet again, out ran Tao Ren. Her lips, spread into a huge fashioned smile. It was full of pride. At the age of nine the girl turned and faced her brother. Mocking how slow he was to her speed. She laughed, giggled, mocked, than finally apologized when her brother began to cry. She vowed it shall always remain that way...of her always winning a race.

_War was a card game,_

Being ten ment she was getting there. She was now in the two didget numbers. She was proud. But not as proud as she was when she continued to beat him. Her little brother in the game of War. They would play for hours upon hours. Often getting ready to stop before Ren cried out wanting a re-match. She sighed, gave in, than played again, and won. She would listen to any sharp remark her brother could come up with, and replied one back in a harsher tone. Than they would deck out the cards and continued to play.

_Life was simple and carefree... _

She brushed a leaf from her brother's lock of hair. She hummed her lullaby, making him go into a deeper sleep by the minute. It was fall, she was eleven. Her eyes scanned down on her brother. He had flushed cheeks from running. She had advise they sit down by a tree for a rest, he protested, gave in, than laid his head on her lap. She cooed to him for a bit before humming a song she had learned from her hero...her mother. She watched as her brother nuzzled closer to her.

_But..._

Tao Jun glanced up as a gust of chilly air came on.

_What i remember most..._

The girl's eyes widened as a figure stood before her. A shadow cast over her like the night did to the Earth. The girl gulped as she looked at the lady before her small figure. The girl's breath quickened.

_Was wanting to grow up._

Tao Jun gazed at herself in the mirror. For a second there she felt like she went back into the past. She felt like she stood right infront of her eleven-year-old self. Her heart sake as she remebered the one wish that girl wanted. Wanting to grow up. Jun's eyes filled with sorrow. Now that she was grown up, she wanted to go back to those old days. How she desired to have them back. How she wanted, how she wished, how she longed for them. A sigh escaped the doshi's lips again. She knew that would never happened. She wished when she was young, she got the wish. Now that she wanted to be young, her wish cannot be taken back. _You are only young once_, she told herself, _so use it wisely..you can never go back._

Pulling the chair she sat on by her dresser, Tao Jun stood up. She motioned for Pailong to fallow her as she left the her room. Pailong closing the door behide her, not before glancing at all the pictures of the young Jun. How he too, wished to see her grow up again. He smiled, than fallowed behide his doshi.

_End: **Growing Up**_

**Note: **_I know it was short, and it wasn't that great. But I hoped you like. I liked to thank my best friend, Alyssa, for finding those words. Thanks girl! You're the best! Anyways, sorry for stupid mistakes and I hope you enjoy!_


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